Whilst this may not be directly focussed on improv, I think that characters are an important part of it – this is why I am starting a new feature called Character Building.

I came up with this idea the other day when I was watching Brooklyn 99 and some of the characters were so fascinating when I thought about it, I decided that character analysis could be interesting.

Obviously, improv is made up on the spot but looking at other characters can create inspiration for ideas you can take away to help develop your own personas in the future.

Today we are looking at a character that is fantastic for uniqueness.

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This Week’s Character – Jessica Day

Why This character?

If you have watched New Girl then you can understand straight away why I have decided to write about the lead Jessica Day. She is a school teacher, she has a very big imagination and she is also quite quirky. She has elements of her characters persona that make a great inspiration for improv.

Personality traits that are great

• In the first season you see a lot of Jess’ quirky side such as singing her own theme tune, activities that she does for the school, her hobbies etc. They are there to create a narrative for the male housemates to get used to her but it is fun to see the new ideas and things that she does.
• The unusual qualities of Jess is that due to her bring really random she makes other characters not afraid to be their unique selves. A good example of this is Nick and the way he becomes open and they have a ‘weird off’.
• She is always positive and looking at things through rainbow glasses which means she automatically brings two things – brightness and fun which makes her likable and lighthearted however it can be enough to irritate some people.

What we can learn for Improv Characters?

• Characters that have an unique style can be really great in improv scenes – they can bring a whole new angle to the scenario
• If you make an interesting character choice commit to it. The character may be completely random but it can create fun and heighten the scene.
• The odd singing im really random places could be really fun to add to a scene and create something entertaining.

Improv Corner will return in September

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